Saturday, August 1, 2009

Picnickers trash Prospect Park!

From the Daily News:

"Prospect Park's Monday morning trash problem is worse than ever because of record-high attendance and cuts to the cleanup crew, a park official said.

To handle the mounds of garbage that pile up over busy weekends this summer, officials have resorted to planting a mammoth Dumpster in the middle of the park and are now hoping Saturday and Sunday picnickers will use it.

"It's cheaper to have a commitment to more garbage cans than human beings," said Prospect Park administrator Tupper Thomas. "If I had lots of money, the top thing I'd do is hire more people. But we've taken significant cuts."

Because of city budget cuts, the Parks Department was only able to hire nine seasonal summer workers instead of its usual 13. Combined with full-time workers, there are now only 19 members on the park's cleanup crew.

Tupper said there are four to five workers cleaning up the park Sunday night, and that all 19 report to work on Monday morning - but parkgoers said the workers can't keep up with the trash."